I recently came across a quote by Benjamin Franklin
-- "Democracy is two wolves and a lamb voting on what to have for
lunch. Liberty is a well-armed lamb contesting the vote!"

While it made me chuckle it also made me
think.

It made me think that at times it has felt like
citizens were the "lamb" and councils and developers the wolves.

It also substantiated my belief that in order to be
"well-armed lambs contesting the vote" citizens would be well-served by a
Citizen's Initiated Referendum Bylaw.

So what is a Citizen Initiated Referendum Bylaw
(also known as a Municipal Constitution Bylaw). Simply put it is a bylaw that
offers citizens the opportunity to take an issue to a referendum.

For instance - over 2000 Nelson citizen's signed a
petition a few years ago asking City Council to buy the former VSA lands by
Walmart. Council could, and did, ignore it. With a Citizen's Initiated
Referendum this could not happen.

Another example - the purchase of the White
Building. If citizen's secured the required number of signatures (in Rossland
they chose 20% of the electorate) the entire community would have an opportunity
to vote. To affirm Council's decision or not.

Critics try to dismiss this process by leading you
to believe that petitions are politically motivated and that they highjack the
democratic process.

The reality is that the strength of the bylaw is
that it forces City Council to be good communicators -- to communicate more
effectively. If Council does it's job they have
no reason to fear a petition.

City Council candidates will tell you what you want
to hear at election time. I encourage you to look for those that "walk their
talk" and who have no concerns or fears about empowering citizens.